Mages, ten-man raiding, and other things that are awesome.

Last year, for the first time I paid for the Blizzcon “virtual ticket” so that I could follow along with the Blizzcon action as my Twitter feed was filled with excited attendees meeting up and having drinks. I really enjoyed the opportunity to see some behind the scenes stuff (the art and cinematics panels were my favourites!) and listen to the devs answer some questions.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t entirely fun to watch because some of the flippant replies earned my ire at the time. A woman who asked if we could have female characters that didn’t look like they’d stepped from the pages of a lingerie catalog was asked, “Well, what kind of catalog do you want them to have stepped out of?” You could see her face mirroring the feelings I had as this line of men mocked her question. Disbelief, followed by embarrassment, followed by resignation and a shrug as she stepped away from the microphone. By that time, the “answer” had degenerated into tasteless jokes about female Tauren coming from an agriculture magazine or catalog. It was disappointing to see that a serious question was not taken at all seriously. There are entire blogs devoted to the way female characters in games are portrayed. Women that actually play games? We’d like to know that our important organs are protected when we step into battle. Even gamers that are not women don’t necessarily like their characters to have exposed midriff for no real reason.

I’m digressing, though, because my post isn’t actually about this question, but another reply that made me roll my eyes.

The question and answer I’m referring to happen at around 9:39, so you’ll have to do a bit of scrolling to get there. For those who can’t be bothered, here’s a transcript: (also, big thanks to Wolfshead who wrote about this at the time of the last Blizzcon; the commentary on this entry helped me to relocate the question and answer once I knew exactly which developers were involved).

Woman asking question: I would like to ask for a closet. Something similar to a keychain. We’ve got all these wonderful festival items, and midsummer night, and all that stuff, and no place to put ’em!

Tom Chilton: Yeah, that’s actually something that we had hoped to get in with Cataclysm. It’s really more a question of resolving data storage, and exactly what the interface is, and all that kinda stuff. But it is something we’d like to do at some point.

J. Allen Brack: What I’m interested in, is how excited are you guys to play “World of Dresscraft”?

At the time I was watching this, I tweeted: “Why yes, I AM excited to play World of Dresscraft, thank you very much!”

Now, almost a year later, as the next Blizzcon looms, much has changed. Lo and behold, we’re getting a virtual closet. We’re also getting the ability to modify our gear. I don’t know about you guys, but the reactions I’ve been seeing to this have been uproarious. My guild has been furiously running old content to get specific set pieces – and we’re not talking about RPers here. We’re a raiding guild. I’ve been saving tier gear all this time out of long abandoned RP pursuits, but also because I just like doing it. My bank is all dresses. Tom Chilton gave a really respectful and honest reply to a valid question. Bank limitations are a problem for pretty much everyone, I’d imagine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much enthusiasm for an upcoming change before!

Right after I watched this Q & A, I started working on a small side-project for fun. Naturally, it could have only one name: World of Dresscraft. This is the result.

SO EXCITED. CAN'T EVEN TELL YOU.

Patch 4.3 not coming quickly enough for you? Help shorten the wait by taking your love of World of Dresscraft into the third dimension with a fully functional paper Millya doll (and assorted outfits!).

Millya is never without an outfit for every occasion. She has fancy dresses, spring dresses, Kirin Tor robes, Draenic Silk Robes (lovingly crafted for Modoru by his grandmother, they’re an heirloom, you know) and even an odd outfit she borrowed from another wizard she met once. There are outfits for fishing and baking, killing Horde, and of course some pyjamas with mage cakes and pink elekk slippers.

and if, like me, you don’t have a colour printer, here’s a black and white version that you can colour yourself: Millya Doll (Black & White)

Both of these images should be suitable for output on standard (8.5″ x 11″) paper. I’d recommend printing them on matte photo paper, cardstock, or some other heftier paper. If you don’t have that option, you can always print out and glue them onto something sturdier. Speaking from experience, it is possible to assemble them using plain old’ printer paper, but she won’t stand up really well. If you have any questions or comments I’d love to hear them! The cutting is pretty fiddly, especially Millya’s hair, but it’s just the way her hair is. If you have access to an x-acto knife you might have an easier time using that for the cutting, although it is doable with scissors. I’d never made anything like this before so constructive feedback will be helpful. If I end up doing any more, I can make sure my next one incorporates any suggestions! After all, World of Dresscraft is a vast universe full of many possibilities!

Comments on: "Still Excited To Play World of Dresscraft" (20)

Another tip that might help is that you may find it easier to cut these out using a craft mat and some x-acto knives instead of scissors. There’s lots of lovely little details, and while I was able to get Millya out of her paper prison with only scissors, I bet you’ll have an easier time with a craft blade. Just be careful!

I LOVED those dress dolls when I was younger (probably still secretly do). And eventhough I don’t collect anything in WoW at the moment, I will turn into a complete hoarder once the transmogrifier hits town, I’m going to have a new suit for each new raid, yessir. Can’t think of the last time I was looking for something this much.

And by “looking” I mean “longing”. Also, the answers Blizz gave to those questions are just sad. I think they reverted into mocking the first one because they just didn’t have a good answer and they knew it. So they tried to laugh it off which unfortunately only made them seem more stupid <.<

You know, I had the online ticket myself last year. I honestly don’t remember that first episode, though obviously it happened. Had I seen it last year I’d have been ticked off then, because I certainly am now.

That woman didn’t spend enough money to buy a good used car, come in from wherever she came in from, and have the guts to go to a microphone in front of a crowd to ask a question just to be mocked.

The Dev that answered that question should have been smacked upside the head, repetedly. With something disgusting. Or sharp and pointy, i’m not sure which.

On to other things, I am actually looking forward to the Transmogrifying as well, though I don’t plan on a tier set. My Goblin Shaman is actually watching the AH for pieces of the “Bonescale” set. A fashion matched set of greens from (I think) the mid 40’s.

Well that and going to do some questing in Outlands to get the one and only Mail eyepatch in the game.

[…] Finally, a way to lock yourself into a favorite wardrobe! Nostalgia is uniting teams of players to go farm those lost tier sets, players with a bank full of clothes are congratulating themselves on their […]

I thought it was a lovely trip down Memory Lane too. I forgot I used to play with paper dress up dolls. So much fun when I was little. In regard to the Blizzard comment last year- yes disappointing. Totally did not address the woman’s question with anything approaching respect. They don’t realise how much they are influencing the way women are seen and judged by the way they render the images in game. But it’s a wider society problem. Listening to The Instance today & they said latest stats show the least race played as female is Orc. The most common race played as female is Draenai with of course human, night elf & blood elf following. The majority of people are picking the more conventionally attractive to play. I use conventionally within a WoW context of course – my Draenai look did not go down well in the clubs the other night 😉

Well, I never played with dress up dolls, but I’ll tell you I spent a good amount of time in LorTO making my scribe look like a SCRIBE. I’ve been making my monsters in DarkSpore very unique looking (though there’s a good reason to do so in a 4 person game – it makes it easy to see who’s who w/o having to read). I’m looking forward to this, too, though I admit I’d like to be able to wear my tux even thought it’s statless.

At any rate, you never cease to amaze me with your art, even when it’s for play instead of just viewing. Great post, and great work!